Wow, just saw the news. I was fortunate enough to talk to Fred a month or two back on the phone and wish I had realized it would be the last time. I recall that back then the prognosis was somewhat longer than it turned out to be.

Fred was genuinely one of the nicest people I've met and helped facilitate my, to date, only visit to Wrigley field back in 2007 to see the Cubs get swept out of the playoffs by the Diamondbacks. I believe I shared his home with Soccer10k that trip. He was as kind and gracious a host as someone could be to a goofy, broke 20 year old they'd put up with on the internet for the last 4 years. He even came to pick me up from the airport and had the car stall out on the highway and yet remained cool and friendly throughout.

I imagine that of the folks here, he probably met some of the most NSBBers of anyone, which says a lot about his approach to this place and his personality. He was one of the most integral parts of this board and it's hard to imagine it without him. It feels wrong that we should even have to.

He was, above all, a kind and decent man and someone I'm proud to call a friend.

ctcf wrote:Wow, just saw the news. I was fortunate enough to talk to Fred a month or two back on the phone and wish I had realized it would be the last time. I recall that back then the prognosis was somewhat longer than it turned out to be.

having had a close friend's mother and grandfather pass away since my last trip back to the US - sometimes it is actually better to not know. you enjoy the time that you had together. my friend's mom knew she was dying when i saw her a couple of months before she passed. we had a really nice time with her, my friend, and her grandchildren, just catching up and chatting like we always did. at first after she passed away i thought that i wished she had told me she was dying when i had seen her, but then i thought about what it would have been like if i'd known. the two times i saw her on that visit were clearly going to be the last time that i'd see her (since i was going back to australia), and those visits would have been filled with tears and sadness rather than the genuine happiness of seeing a friend.

i don't know how fred's last couple of months or years were, and i really don't need to know, but i truly hope that they were filled with happiness and with the love of all those who cared about him. by all accounts, he was a good man and deserved that much.

ctcf wrote:Wow, just saw the news. I was fortunate enough to talk to Fred a month or two back on the phone and wish I had realized it would be the last time. I recall that back then the prognosis was somewhat longer than it turned out to be.

Fred was genuinely one of the nicest people I've met and helped facilitate my, to date, only visit to Wrigley field back in 2007 to see the Cubs get swept out of the playoffs by the Diamondbacks. I believe I shared his home with Soccer10k that trip. He was as kind and gracious a host as someone could be to a goofy, broke 20 year old they'd put up with on the internet for the last 4 years. He even came to pick me up from the airport and had the car stall out on the highway and yet remained cool and friendly throughout.

I imagine that of the folks here, he probably met some of the most NSBBers of anyone, which says a lot about his approach to this place and his personality. He was one of the most integral parts of this board and it's hard to imagine it without him. It feels wrong that we should even have to.

He was, above all, a kind and decent man and someone I'm proud to call a friend.

RIP Fred.

I remember meeting you at that game but I didn't realize all the work Fred did to make it happen. Great story.

Here's my Fred story. I don't have a very personal story, but it still speaks volumes about him as a person, I believe

I don't remember the exact year (let's just call it 2008), but I'm fairly sure I had just graduated recently from my undergrad and was in grad school. Or maybe even earlier because years run together like weeks nowadays, but I digress. Anyway, I'm still here employed at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC and the Pirates are the mascot for ECU. My location at the time on my NSBB posts was "Pirate Country".

I wasn't an active poster nor did my posts really contribute much to the community. But, Fred PM'ed me one day and said, "I saw where your location is 'Pirate Country' and I have an extra ticket for the Cubs-Pirates game in Pittsburgh. Want to come?". I swear to Christ I would have gone but I was 11 hours away and just wasn't feasible. I have no doubt that I was just another dumb poster on this board - especially at that time. It floored me that he would reach out to me and offer me a ticket to a game.

It seems pretty trivial and in the grand scheme it is, but it stuck with me for sure. That gesture - especially after reading the other stories - meant and means so much to me.

He will surely be missed and I hate that I never got the chance to meet this amazing person. RIP

Last edited by weis21 on Tue Sep 13, 2016 3:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

ctcf wrote:Wow, just saw the news. I was fortunate enough to talk to Fred a month or two back on the phone and wish I had realized it would be the last time. I recall that back then the prognosis was somewhat longer than it turned out to be.

Fred was genuinely one of the nicest people I've met and helped facilitate my, to date, only visit to Wrigley field back in 2007 to see the Cubs get swept out of the playoffs by the Diamondbacks. I believe I shared his home with Soccer10k that trip. He was as kind and gracious a host as someone could be to a goofy, broke 20 year old they'd put up with on the internet for the last 4 years. He even came to pick me up from the airport and had the car stall out on the highway and yet remained cool and friendly throughout.

I imagine that of the folks here, he probably met some of the most NSBBers of anyone, which says a lot about his approach to this place and his personality. He was one of the most integral parts of this board and it's hard to imagine it without him. It feels wrong that we should even have to.

He was, above all, a kind and decent man and someone I'm proud to call a friend.

RIP Fred.

I remember meeting you at that game but I didn't realize all the work Fred did to make it happen. Great story.

I've been lurking/posting here for over a decade. I wasn't fortunate enough to have known Fred personally. It's ironic to me that he's best know for his contributions to the game threads; most people who gain notoriety in that venue do so by being jerks. Fred seemed so effortlessly positive. My condolences to CubmanPi, Fred's family and all who cared for him. Insofar as one can miss a person they've never met, I'll miss Fred terribly.

I logged back in to say goodbye to Fred. Haven't been on NSBB for years because reasons.

That is beside the point here. What I wanted to say is this:

Fred never had a bad word to say about anyone. I am not nearly that strong. Fred saw statistics before many of us did and he utilized them in ways some or all of us may have overlooked. His game threads and posts were always on point and always upbeat and positive.

Unfortunately I never met the man nor shared a beer but I made a special effort to come back here to honor Fred. For this reason:

Fred embodies us all and our families. We are Family. We disagree daily but we share a common love.